Can the amount of sleep you get a night have an influence on fat loss?

Can the amount of sleep you get a night have an influence on fat loss? Apparently so according to a small study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
In this 2010 study, researchers put 10 healthy, but overweight individuals through two different trials, which lasted 2 weeks each. Both trials were separated by 3 months and required subjects to consume a calorie-restricted diet (about 90% of their resting metabolic rate). The difference between trials was how long the subjects slept. For one trial, the subjects only slept 5.5 hours each night while during the other trial they slept for 8.5 hours.
After both trials were done, the researchers found that subjects lost about the same amount of weight. However, there was difference in fat loss. Half of the weight loss during the 8.5 hour trial came from fat. Conversely, only 20% of the weight loss came from fat during the 5.5 hour trial. The remainder of the weight came from lean body mass (e.g., water and muscle).
As mentioned this was a small study, so you have to take it with a grain of salt, but what this suggests is that how much you sleep at night can have an effect on your body’s ability to lose fat when on a calorie-restricted diet. So if you’re looking to lose fat then it’s always a good idea to try to get a good night’s sleep every night.
Nedeltcheva, AV et al. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Oct 5; 153(7): 435–441.